Boating How-To’s - Painting your own boat for a novice

I'm thinking of painting my own boat as its getting a few years on it and beginning to look oxidized despite some buffing and waxing. My question to some of you DIY guys is how hard is it to do it yourself, how expensive, what is the most user friendly paint that can be rolled and tipped or do you guys that have some experience say it should be sprayed? I welcome all comments. I'd say I'm pretty handy but inexperienced in this area of expertise. I've included a pic of the boat if anyone has any questions

I'm listening to this

Take your time and you can have some good results...Small boats are pretty cheap IMO...You don't use a lot of paint...you use more sandpaper and filler :)

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/umachme/Mako/aquamako009.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/umachme/Mako/mako004-1.jpg

please post more pics... paint type, maker, spray gun or turbine used... time it took...

You need to do allot of reading and research first. All the labor is getting the boat ready to paint so don't skimp on the paint used. The prep is the same and takes 95% of your time.

I would use Awlcraft 2000 for the top side paint.

You should also have a pro look at the gel coat. You may not need to paint at all...!!

I took it to one place and the price to wetsand and buff back out was not much less per foot than to paint. I'm thinking of how beautiful all these boats look on here and the guys that restore them all seem to be doing them at home. I'm definately going to do plenty of research as I use the boat almost every weekend and plan on painting and having the floor sprayed with Line-x over the fall and winter.


Blindmullett,
Did you spray or roll your boat? What brand paint?

i used interlux brightside rolled and tipped with good results. i bought the high quality roller pad as recommended. the stuff dries fast so be mindful of that. you need to be inside to keep bugs from getting in the paint until dry. i can give more advice if you want just let me know what you need to know

:QI'm hoping to be painting my Ol Clunker in the VERY near future,it takes way too much sanding,an preping.Primer,an paint is the EASY part.Just keep 1 thing in mind GOOD paint aint cheap,an CHEAP paint aint good. Best of Luck with Your project...

:QJust keep 1 thing in mind GOOD paint aint cheap,an CHEAP paint aint good. Best of Luck with Your project...



So true :thumbsup:

System 3 epoxy yatch primer..much better for us noobies as it is a water based product. It was followed up with Alexseal Aqua Mist...I like the Alexseal over Awlgrip/Awlcrap. It is durable like Awlgrip, but you can repair it like Awlcraft,

I built my boat from the ground up, but if it was going to be a paint job only..Maybe a month working only on weekends would do it. Depends how straight the boat is and how good you want it to look.

Cost? You only use about a quart of paint on a boat my size. A couple hundred bucks in paint, add some quickfair or your favorite filler $50-$100, primer (mine was a little over $100 for a gallon) and sandpaper....lots of sandpaper :) One thing you should look at is all the hardware---will you reuse it? What about the rub rail?

You may want to try a product like Aquabuff 2000 before going the painting route. Its a great product. Goes on with a high speed buffer and works well on old gellcoat. I would wash the boat well with dawn, then strip the wax with on/off and then use the aquabuff. You must wax the boat when done. I would probably wax it twice. All this could be done in a weekend. Its worth a shot if your gell coat is only faded and not too scratched up.

You may want to try a product like Aquabuff 2000 before going the painting route. Its a great product. Goes on with a high speed buffer and works well on old gellcoat. I would wash the boat well with dawn, then strip the wax with on/off and then use the aquabuff. You must wax the boat when done. I would probably wax it twice. All this could be done in a weekend. Its worth a shot if your gell coat is only faded and not too scratched up.

I had good results with the Aquabuff products but had to start with the 1000 first (grittier) then proceed to the 2000. 2 applications of each then 2 coats of a quality wax. :thumbsup:

Looks real nice ! Is that white paint on the bottom or did you Gel Coat it ?

Take your time and you can have some good results...Small boats are pretty cheap IMO...You don't use a lot of paint...you use more sandpaper and filler :)

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/umachme/Mako/aquamako009.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/umachme/Mako/mako004-1.jpg

Looks real nice ! Is that white paint on the bottom or did you Gel Coat it ?

That is VC Epoxy.

That looks good … did you wet sand and buff or does it shine like that right out of the gate ?

That looks good … did you wet sand and buff or does it shine like that right out of the gate ?

You have to wet sand and buff...I only did the transom area.

If the integrity of the gelcoat is good, and it is only oxidezed, a good buff and wax should bring it back to looking new. Key is a profressional polisher, such as a Dewalt, that can start slow and work up to high RPMs.

I brought back a 1976 sailboat, original gelcaot, to look new.

How did you get it up on blocks. My biggest hurdle to painting has been figuring out how to deal with it on the trailer without leaving spaces where the bunks are. Best I can come up with is to lower the trailer, prop up the stern, then jack it up in the bow and prop up the bow. The trailer is still there, but I figure I can try to work around it.

How did you get it up on blocks. My biggest hurdle to painting has been figuring out how to deal with it on the trailer without leaving spaces where the bunks are. Best I can come up with is to lower the trailer, prop up the stern, then jack it up in the bow and prop up the bow. The trailer is still there, but I figure I can try to work around it.

Do a search on THT and there will be a bunch of info. Pretty much this is what you need to do.

Lower the trailer and support the stren with blocks/stands.

Add supports (blocks/stands) and move the trailer fwd. You will have to keep moving these fwd supports as the trailer moves to clear the trailer.